The funny part, related to the discussion that was just happening in the Star Wars thread, is that the producers say that they decided to include Shogun World because of how closely related westerns and samurai moves are.

The timeline stuff is getting awfully close to jumping the shark. It’s needlessly obtuse. They should just have confidence in their story.

At least most of the timeline stuff is pretty clear so far this season (immediately after the finale, and sometime later when the Delos folks get there), rather than trying to pretend everything’s happening at once like S1.

There’s still the opening scene with Delores and Bernard (or Arnold), but I’m sure that’ll become clear eventually.

At the Season 2 FYC event, Ed Harris, Evan Rachel Wood, more cast members and the creators talked Rick Astley and character arcs.

This was interesting:

Joining the creators on the panel were Evan Rachel Wood, Thandie Newton, Jeffrey Wright, James Marsden, and Ed Harris. Working his way through each cast member (and vowing not to spoil anything), Scheer later asked them to summarize their characters’ Season 2 journeys with one word each.

While some kept it vague (Marsden said “choice” while Wood said “rise”) and others dealt out inside jokes (Newton said “lasagna”), one cowboy was ready to share.

“Can I have two words?” Harris asked. Scheer acquiesced, and the man behind The Man in Black said, “Make amends.”

That’s a rather big reversal for a character who caused a whole lot of trouble in Season 1. Many considered him an outright villain, but Harris doesn’t see him that way.

“I see him as a protagonist actually, yes,” Harris said. “Particularly this season. The maze is […] history. He’s on a whole other track this year, and I think the track that he’s on definitely makes him a protagonist. I’m worried about Season 3, to tell you the truth.”

Later, Harris said his character “becomes less mysterious” than he seemed in Season 1. “We learn more about him,” he said.

I didn’t have a problem with the timelines, it’s simply starting in media res and then flashing back to explain how we got there, which is a pretty common structure in fiction. Unlike the first season, there’s nothing underhand about the narrative trick (well, as far as we know so far), and the division is made perfectly obvious throughout.

The biggest surprise for me is that it’s an island. Did we know that in the first season? If we did, I’ve forgotten it. I thought it was just like, Arizona or something.

So where’s there an island the size of Arizona with that sort of climate? Have they re-landscaped Madagascar?

I do not think it’s an island. I think this is a selection process for a colony ship. We screwed up the climate, the world went to Hell, humans cannot survive an interstellar trip and the Hosts are being used as containers to download human personalities, The trip will be so long as to require entertainment to maintain sanity. Only the richest of rich will be able to afford the trip - if they survive the test of Westworld.

There’s no way it’s an island on Earth. The mass terraforming doesn’t make sense otherwise. No air traffic overheated. It’d screw up shipping lanes. The size of Westworld alone has to be a couple of hundred miles in diameter. And there’s six more worlds.

I’m convinced the city scenes in the trailer are from another park rather than our world.

The biggest surprise for me is that it’s an island. Did we know that in the first season? If we did, I’ve forgotten it. I thought it was just like, Arizona or something.

So where’s there an island the size of Arizona with that sort of climate? Have they re-landscaped Madagascar?

I think this is the first mention it’s a city. The Japanese (?) soldier had me assuming it’s in the Pacific somewhere (could be an artificial island) and equidistant between the US and Japan, catering to both with Westworld and Samuraiworld. And the other four, I guess.

I think this is the first mention it’s a city. The Japanese (?) soldier had me assuming it’s in the Pacific somewhere (could be an artificial island) and equidistant between the US and Japan, catering to both with Westworld and Samuraiworld. And the other four, I guess.

As Bernard is being led along the beach, we briefly see the Delos head of operations, Karl Strand, arguing with some official looking guys in military fatigues. Based on their uniforms, these guys are totally part of the People’s Liberation Army, specifically and appropriately, the Navy. They’re clearly upset about what is happening on the island. Strand says that Delos has total control over what happens on the island, regardless of what their government wants. Strand tells his lackeys to get the military guys to sign an NDA. So, is the Westworld island located in Chinese waters?

Hainan is the smallest and southernmost province of China, consisting of various islands in the South China Sea. Hainan Island, separated from Guangdong's Leizhou Peninsula by the Qiongzhou Strait, is the largest island under PRC control (Taiwan, which is slightly larger, is also claimed but not controlled by the PRC) and makes up the majority of the province. The province has an area of 33,920 square kilometers (13,100 sq mi), with Hainan Island making up 32,900 square kilometers (12,700 sq mi) ...

Which is 12,700 square miles.

They also mention that artificial islands are under construction today so… it’s entirely possible that it is simply that, a real or artificially created island of considerable size.

But with this show, who knows?

I enjoyed the first episode, but I enjoyed the straightforward bits more than the mysterious bits. i liked getting some more answers.